During a conversation with comedian Sam Morril, Joe Rogan discussed the growing role of artificial intelligence in creative industries and the potential consequences for artists. Their discussion centered on a question that is becoming increasingly relevant: if AI can produce convincing movies, music, books, and performances, what happens to the human experiences that traditionally make art meaningful?
The conversation began with Morril’s independently produced tour mockumentary, a project he financed himself after becoming frustrated with the lengthy process of traditional film production. For Morril, the value of making a movie extends beyond the finished product. The effort, risks, setbacks, and personal experiences involved in creating it can become part of the story itself.
Morril argued that the stories surrounding some of the greatest films can be almost as fascinating as the movies themselves. He pointed to classics such as ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Chinatown’, whose production histories included conflicts between actors, writers, directors, studios, and producers.
“The books about the making of those movies are almost as good as the movies,” Morril said.
According to Morril, history is one of the things AI could ultimately strip away from creative work. If companies can generate movies, performances, books, or other forms of entertainment with minimal human involvement, audiences may receive polished products without the struggles and personal experiences that helped shape traditional works of art.
“Like, all these stories are almost as interesting. And you’re going to try to get rid of that with [ ] AI, right? It breaks my heart, man. It’s going to ruin art,” Morril said.
Rogan acknowledged the concern while pointing out that AI-generated entertainment is already becoming part of the industry. He brought up Sunny Hostin from The View while discussing reports that she had licensed her likeness for an AI project involving her books.
“Sunny Hostin, that lady from The View, just sold her books. She writes books. I was listening to Tim Dillon show. He was covering it,” Rogan said. “But apparently she has books that are like these… I guess they’re like romance novels about wealthy ladies during the summer. And she was having a hard time getting them nade. So, she licensed their use to an AI company, including her likeness. So, she’s going to be in them, and it’s going to be all made entirely with AI.”
Despite the concerns surrounding the technology, Rogan also argued that resisting its development may ultimately prove difficult.
“The problem is it’s coming whether you like it or not, right? That’s the problem. And some of it, listen, some of the songs are really good,” he said.
The concern is not necessarily that AI will produce poor-quality material. In fact, some AI-generated music, images, and videos can already be convincing. The deeper question is whether technically impressive content can replace the human experiences traditionally associated with creative work.
The possibility is particularly relevant with the emergence of fictional AI performers such as Tilly Norwood, a digitally created actress designed to function within the entertainment industry. Such projects raise questions about what happens when a performer no longer needs to have lived experiences, personal ambitions, failures, or a physical presence to occupy the same cultural space as a human actor.
Morril then connected the issue directly to comedy. For comedians, a joke rarely emerges fully formed. They perform material in small clubs, hear silence, adjust the wording, add tags, remove unnecessary lines, and repeat the process until a bit begins to work. Failure is an essential part of that process because it allows the comedian to discover what makes an idea effective.
That process is difficult to replicate because the failures themselves become part of the creative journey. A comedian does not simply produce a finished joke; they develop it through repeated experimentation and personal experience.
